To-date, automotive compute systems, e.g. for infotainment and software defined cockpit, are purpose built and fixed to the vehicle they were developed for. This leads to the problem that, once bought, the compute systems available in a given vehicle stay the same over its lifetime. While this was acceptable in the past, where the innovation cycle for these systems was quite long and new features demanding newer hardware took a while to be relevant for the automotive market, this has begun to change already. Customers expect software updates for feature updates and security fixes, as they are used to with their smart phones. Furthermore, car manufacturers begin to understand that up-to-date compute can be a relevant sales advantage on used cars returned from leasing contracts, usually just one to two years old. More than that, while some software upgradeability is given for certain timespan (e.g. 1-2 years) on a fixed compute system, at some point new compute hardware is mandatory to allow the most recent operating systems and software to run.
Within the automotive industry, there has been attempts to provide upgradability to the in-vehicle system. For example, Harman/Daimler “Becker Map Pilot” appears to have once provided a head-less navigation system for Mercedes cars. The idea was to have a small module that can be added by the customer to extend some baseline audio systems with navigation function and map display. The offering appears to be discontinued for current Mercedes models. VW Up!/Skoda CitiGo: “Maps+More” systems appears to have allowed a Navigon brand GPS system or a generic smartphone to be affixed to the dashboard and connected as a companion module to an already present audio system in the car. The smartphone integration appears to rely on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
For previous solutions out of the automotive space, there are at least several disadvantages. Prior art attempts to-date tend to use proprietary, fixed interface assignments that are specific to a system. Usually, these interfaces are optimized for the given use case and try to maximize the use of all available interface signals available from the chips used, or they are heavily cost optimized. Either upgradability is not foreseen at all or, due to the reasons stated above, not economically viable. Further, configurability is typically not a part of the designs. The corresponding mainboard/carrier has to be developed against a finished, special module. Newer module generations often need new carrier designs.
Thus, the prior art efforts all fall short of today and future needs for UVCS.